Girl on the Bridge

DVD Features:

Audio:

• Subtitles - English

Product Description:

In his magical, erotic eighteenth feature, French director Patrice Leconte (RIDICULE, MONSIEUR HIRE) captivates viewers from the first elegant black and white frame. In the prologue, fragile beauty Adele (Vanessa Paradis) recounts her wayward, sadly promiscuous past in a comically matter-of-fact manner. Despite the lighthearted telling, Adele sees her life (all twenty-two years of it) as a tragic run of bad luck, leading her to a bridge on the Seine. She is saved from suicide by the arrival of Gabor (Daniel Auteuil) who jumps in after her. After the rescue, Gabor whisks Adele away to be the new assistant for his knife-throwing act. She blooms under his tutelage, and Gabor reaches new heights of his craft conceding that before Adele, he too, was lost. They happily traverse the Mediterranean, performing for thrilled crowds, and find they share a mystical, telepathic bond that comes in handy in casinos. As their feelings deepen, the knife-act becomes an erotic substitute, fraught with sexual tension (particularly in the beautiful scene beneath a railway bridge set to Marianne Faithful). Will the two realize in time that like the torn half of a dollar bill that Gabor gives Adele, each is useless apart?

Plot Synopsis:

Saved in the last moment from throwing herself off of a bridge, a young woman (Vanessa Paradis), is convinced by her rescuer, a knife thrower (Daniel Auteuil), to accompany him in his performance and travel with him around France. The two are an unlikely pair, but their connection is bittersweet, and gradually they fall in love. This clever black and white film from director Patrice Leconte promises to delight and surprise.

Plot Keywords:

Relationships | Romance | Romances | Theatrical Release

Production Notes:

• Theatrical release: July 28, 2000.
• The film was nominated for eight Cesar awards, and Daniel Auteuil won for Best Actor. The film was also nominated for a Golden Globe award as Best Foreign Film and was named Best Foreign Film by the Las Vegas Film Critics Society.
• Vanessa Paradis (Adele) has been a major pop star in her native France since the age of fourteen.
• Vanessa Paradis was Patrice Leconte's inspiration for the role of Adele. Screenwriter Serge Frydman kept a magazine photo of Paradis tacked on his office wall as he wrote the film.

Cast and Crew: